Pickering named vice president of
college relations at Lincoln College

[JAN. 24, 2003]  Allen Pickering of Lincoln has been named vice president of college relations by the board of trustees of Lincoln College. Though he is taking on new responsibilities, Pickering will retain his roles as athletic director and softball coach for LC.

Mr. Pickering has served as athletic director for the college since 1983 and as dean of students emeritus since 2001. Between 1970 and 1986, he was the associate professor of physical education, the head basketball coach and taught various courses. Prior to his tenure at Lincoln College, he taught history, civics and economics at Low Point-Washburn Community High School in Washburn.

[Lincoln College names Allen Pickering of Lincoln vice president of college relations.]

About his new position, Pickering said, "I'm excited to assume my new duties as vice president; I enjoy new adventures. At the same time, it will be great to coach softball and remain active in the athletic department. In my years here at Lincoln College, I have been fortunate to work with Dr. Nutt and have appreciated his leadership. I'm certain the same will be true of President Schilling, and I look forward to working with him to maintain and build upon the tradition of Lincoln College."

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During his time at Lincoln College, Allen Pickering has garnered a plethora of awards and honors. Among them, he has been listed in "Outstanding Educators of America" and "Who's Who in Midwest Education." In 1973, he was selected as Teacher of the Year at LC. In 1984, he was inducted into the Illinois State University Athletic Hall of Fame and in 1988 into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. As a coach, Pickering led his basketball teams to Region IV junior college state championships in 1980 and 1981. In 1980 he was named Region IV's Junior College Basketball Coach of the Year.

Pickering holds a master's degree in physical education from Northern Arizona University and a bachelor's in education degree in physical education from Illinois State University. He is a native of Lexington. He and his wife, Jeannine, live in Lincoln with their son, David, a sophomore at Lincoln Community High School. Their daughter, Lyndsey, is a junior at Illinois State University.

[Lincoln College press release]

[JAN. 24, 2003]  Chester-East Lincoln School District will be cutting even more programs if the referendum for a tax levy increase of 50 cents in the education fund does not pass in April.

The next round of cuts, which would take effect July 1 and save the district another $270,000, would eliminate three tenured teachers, three non-tenured teachers, four teacher aides and all extracurricular activities, including athletics, speech and the Mathcounts program, Superintendent Robert Bagby said. The school will also be going to half-day kindergarten.

The cuts were announced at Tuesday evening's District 61 board meeting.

Since last March, the district has already cut $360,000 from its budget, which included four teachers, an administrator and a reading recovery program. The last cuts totaled 20 percent of the education budget, and if the cuts currently under review go into effect in July, that will be 33 percent of the education budget that has been cut since last March, Bagby said.

If district voters approve the tax increase at the April 1 general election, the cuts announced this week may be avoided, Bagby said. The last referendum, on the ballot in November of 2002, failed by only 10 votes. The tax increase, if passed, would bring in about $250,000 to the district each year.

Chester-East Lincoln is facing financial problems in part because it has a higher-than-average dependency on local taxes. Slightly more than 70 percent of the district's funding comes from local property taxes, compared with an average of 61.26 percent for Logan County districts.

Bagby also said part of the district's problem comes because the state of Illinois fails to fully fund school districts as promised.

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"Early on we were told we would receive a certain amount of money to build our budget on. We built a budget based on the amount we were told we would be given and have tried to be accountable and balance the numbers. Teachers got only $100 for classroom supplies for the whole year," Bagby said.

"We are still supposed to receive $59,407 in state aid for the rest of the school year, but now we are told we will not receive this amount. Our last state aid payments may be prorated to 82 percent or even cut altogether."

Chester-East Lincoln has no fund balances to fall back on, and the district doesn't want to borrow money when it cannot foresee a way to pay it back, Bagby said.

He said that although the district is asking for a 50-cent increase, that 50 cents will be on the tax rolls for only three years. All of the existing bonds in the district will be paid off in three years, so the tax rate will automatically drop 21 cents. Therefore, in three years, the 50-cent increase will become a 29-cent increase. Bagby said the school board also has a plan to lower the tax rate an additional 12 cents in three years, so the tax increase then will be only 17 cents.

"If the referendum fails, C-EL will be here next year, it will just not be the school parents are used to. It will have larger class sizes, between 30 and 35 students, not the small classes where students get a lot of personal attention, and it will have limited opportunities for students," he said.

The school district, one of the smaller ones in the area, now has 26 teachers and 340 students.

[Joan Crabb]

Boland promotes new law
on specialty license plates

[JAN. 24, 2003]  Rep. Mike Boland of Moline came to Lincoln yesterday to announce the new law he sponsored that lowers the cost of specialty veterans’ license plates and creates a new type of plate which many Illinois residents may be interested in.

In a series of news conferences, Boland urged lower-income veterans to take advantage of a new license plate discount. All veterans who qualify for the state's Circuit Breaker program can now also get discounted specialty license plates designed for veterans. Under another provision of the same law, Illinois sports enthusiasts will be able to advertise their allegiance to a particular team with newly created sports team specialty license plates and contribute to education in Illinois at the same time.

[Photo by Gina Sennett]
[Rep. Mike Boland]

"I was approached by a World War II veteran who qualified for lower-cost license plates under the existing Circuit. Breaker programs, " Boland stated. "This man had fought in the battle of Normandy, but he would have had to give up his veterans’ plates to qualify for the discount. I felt this was a terrible injustice to our lower-income veterans, so I began working to correct this situation, in Springfield."

Boland, D-71st District, added that Circuit Breaker qualifiers can now get their standard and veterans’ license plates for $24 instead of $78.

"The current war on terrorism should have made all of us more appreciative of our fellow Illinois citizens who have served their nation in the armed forces. This is one way to thank them," Boland said. "I am very proud that. I have been able to pass this law which allows our heroic veterans to retain their veterans’ plates and still get the discount they are entitled to with the Circuit Breaker. It’s the least we can do," he emphasized. Rep. Boland is a past vice chairman of the Illinois House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

To qualify for the Illinois Circuit Breaker program, a person must be 65 years of age or older or be disabled according to Social Security standards. The person must also meet household income guidelines. Those guidelines are $21,218 a year for one person, $28,480 for a two-person household and $35,740 for a household of three or more people.

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Recognizing the dire state of Illinois' finances, Boland emphasized that any revenue lost to the state government would be more than made up by the other part of HB 4937. The second part of HB 4937 creates "Professional Sports Teams" license plates. "These plates will appeal to fans of teams such as the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Black Hawks, St. Louis Rams and St. Louis Cardinals," Boland said. Other team plates may also be available, but there must be a minimum of 800 requests for a new plate.

The concept of sports team specialty license plates is modeled after a similar program in Florida, where it has been immensely successful.

The money from the additional cost of these special plates would go into the state’s Common School Fund. "At a time when our schools need every dime they can get, when budgets are being cut, these plates will be a source of dollars on a voluntary basis, not from increasing taxes," Boland noted. He went on to explain that, while this money is only a small percentage of what the schools need, if we get enough "drops in the bucket," eventually the bucket will be full. This "drop" comes on top of another "drop" from the new education license plates introduced this past year. (See LDN article.)

Anyone having questions or seeking more information about this new law should call Rep. Mike Boland at. (309) 736-3360 or write his office: State Rep. Mike Boland; 4416 River Drive; Moline, IL 61265.

[Press release and Gina Sennett]

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